Is an apostille a notary

No, an apostille is not the same as a notary.

Here’s the difference in simple Words:

Notary means a government-approved person (notary public) checks and certifies that a document is genuine or that signatures are real.

✅ It's a local verification step inside your country.

Apostille is an official international authentication done by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) (in India) or a similar authority in other countries.

✅ It makes your document legally valid in any Hague Convention member country (like France, Germany, UAE, etc.).

In short:

Notarization is a local check.

Apostille is a special international certificate for global use.

Sometimes before Apostille, a document needs to be notarized first — but not always. It depends on the document type and destination country's rules.